Trump meeting with New York Times back on after Trump Twitter rant
A meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and The New York Times is back on Tuesday after Mr. Trump ranted at the Times on Twitter and canceled a meeting with the newspaper’s executives, reporters and columnists earlier Tuesday.
“Mr. Trump’s staff has told us that the President Elect’s meeting with The Times is on again,” Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said in a statement. “He will meet with our publisher off-the-record and that session will be followed by an on-the-record meeting with our journalists and editorial columnists.”
Trump tweeted that he’s looking forward to the meeting.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks also confirmed the meeting was back on, telling pool reporters that it “is taking place as planned.”
On Twitter early Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump claimed that the Times had changed the terms and conditions of the meeting, which was reportedly supposed to be on the record.
The newspaper, however, didn’t know the meeting was canceled until the president-elect posted his tweet and it said it hadn’t change the ground rules.
“We were unaware that the meeting was cancelled until we saw the President Elect’s tweet this morning,” said Eileen Murphy, senior vice president of communications at the Times. “We did not change the ground rules at all and made no attempt to. They tried to yesterday - asking for only a private meeting and no on-the-record segment, which we refused to agree to. In the end, we concluded with them that we would go back to the original plan of a small off the record session and a larger on the record session with reporters and columnists.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump suggested on Twitter he would be willing to meet with them in the future but complained about the “nasty tone” of the Times.
Mr. Trump then tweeted he has “great meetings” planned at Trump Tower Tuesday as he organizes his incoming administration during the transition period.
While Mr. Trump didn’t specify which stories he had a problem with from the Times, the newspaper has been reporting on Mr. Trump’s conflicts of interest due to his business holdings internationally. The Times also reported that when Mr. Trump met with far-right British politician Nigel Farage, he encouraged him to oppose offshore wind farms that would block the view from one of his two golf courses in Scotland.
He also tweeted Monday night about his possible conflicts of interests and blamed the media, which he described as “crooked” for making a big deal.
In the interview Mr. Trump did with “60 Minutes” just days after his election victory, he said he would be “very restrained” when it comes to social media and tweeting as president.
CBS News’ Arden Farhi contributed to this report.
